When Mario, our favorite plumber for pounding mushrooms, hit 3D in Super Mario 64, he did it infamously without his loyal brother Luigi. The green-clad sidekick never made it to the game, despite accompanying his brother through adventures since 1983. His absence and ways to make him appear in the game have become an urban legend. But after the recent Nintendo leak, it looks like our missing Mario Brother has been found after all.
25 years later, fans have separated the development files for the Luigi models that were part of the leak and are now enthusiastically showing them online.
Discovering Luigi’s hidden model is not entirely unexpected. In an interview originally featured in the official strategy guide (and preserved by Shmuplations), Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed that Mario’s brother should appear, but he eventually had to be removed due to memory issues. This interview also reveals that Yoshi was almost eliminated from the game when an event focused on him didn’t go as the team wanted, but in an effort not to waste the model, they kept it in the end.
Now that the Luigi model has been leaked through the Mario 64 source code, it seems like we can say goodbye to the iconic Luigi model made by fans.
Truly the end of an era pic.twitter.com/TZuUnaBMAF– Christopher Moon (@TheMoomMan) July 26, 2020
Luigi has come a long way since his Mario 64 snub, starring in three innings of his creepy indie series, Luigi’s Mansion. Still, it’s endearing to see the duration of some fans’ enthusiasm for him. No one knows what other secrets fans can find through this latest leak.
GameSpot may earn a commission from retail offers.
